Jennifer Koh’s ‘Bach & Beyond Part 3’ Concludes Landmark Series on Cedille Records Nov. 13

Double album of solo violin works offers two J.S. Bach sonatas,
Luciano Berio’s ‘Sequenza VIII,’ and world-premiere recording
of John Harbison’s ‘For Violin Alone’

American violinist Jennifer Koh’s Bach & Beyond Part 3, available Nov. 13, 2020, on Cedille Records, concludes her critically acclaimed set of albums based on her recital series of the same name that The New York Times has called “indispensable.”

Koh says the initiative aspires to “strengthen the connection between our past and present worlds through a historical journey” from Johann Sebastian Bach’s early-18^th-century sonatas and partitas for solo violin to Bach-inspired music of the 20^th and 21^st centuries, including recently commissioned works.

“My Bach and Beyond project presents the works of Bach that I have long loved, in communion with the music of contemporary composers who I am dedicated to championing.”

On the new album, Koh offers Bach’s florid and fanciful Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003; Luciano Berio’s expressive Sequenza VIII, from 1976, reflecting his reverence for the Ciaccona from Bach’s Partita in D minor; the world-premiere recording of Pulitzer Prize winner John Harbison’s For Violin Alone, a seven-movement dance suite inspired by Bach’s partitas and composed for Koh in 2015; and Bach’s Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005, celebrated for its colossal Fuga movement.          

The release is a double-CD set priced as a single disc (Cedille Records CDR 90000 199).

Recording Team           

Bach & Beyond Part 3 was produced and engineered by multiple Grammy Award-winner Judith Sherman September 16–18, 2017, at the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York; and September 8–10, 2019, at the concert hall of the Performing Arts Center, State University of New York, Purchase, New York.

Jennifer Koh on Cedille Records           

Bach & Beyond Part 3 is Koh’s 14^th Cedille Records album.          

On Bach & Beyond Part 2, released in 2015, Koh performs Bach’s Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001; Bela Bartok’s Sonata for Solo Violin Sz. 117, BB 124; Kaija Saariaho’s Frises; and Bach’s Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002. Toronto’s The WholeNote said, “Koh, as always, is superb, her intelligence and interpretation always matching her outstanding technique.”          

Koh’s Bach & Beyond Part 1, released in 2012, includes Bach’s Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006; Eugène Ysaÿe’s Sonata No. 2, Op. 27; Saariaho’s Nocturne; the world-premiere recording of Missy Mazzoli’s Dissolve, O My Heart; and Bach’s Partita No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004. The Newark Star-Ledger praised Koh for “her distinctive voice over a range of styles.”          

Koh’s Cedille discography includes last season’s Limitless, on which she performs eight contemporary duets with the composers themselves. The Chicago Tribune named it among the “Best Classical Albums of 2019,” praising it as “a testament to Koh’s adventurousness and the creativity of all involved.” The Strad called it “an enterprising collection of breathtaking new music.”          

BBC Music Magazine described the violinist’s Saariaho X Koh, devoted to music of the Finnish composer, as “a delicate yet visceral recording.”            

Koh’s String Poetic, featuring the world-premiere recording of Jennifer Higdon’s title track, earned a Grammy nomination.          

“One of the more acclaimed violinists of our time” (Washington Post), Koh has been highly visible during 2020 as a result of her online performance series Alone Together featuring short new works donated by established composers and commissioned from talented young composers who may be struggling financially because of the Covid-19 crisis.          

Koh has been honored as “A Force of Nature” by the American Composers Orchestra and as Musical America’s 2016 Instrumentalist of the Year. Her website is jenniferkoh.com.

Cedille Records          

Launched in November 1989, Grammy Award-winning Cedille Records (pronounced say-DEE) is dedicated to showcasing and promoting the most noteworthy classical artists in and from the Chicago area.          

Cedille is in the midst of its first-ever Emerging Artist Competition, launched in fall 2019 to commemorate the label’s 30^th season. Individual performers and ensembles from the Chicago area are competing for the opportunity to make their featured debut recording, produced by and released on the award-winning label. A panel of respected classical music professionals has selected nine semifinalists from among nearly three dozen applicants. Semifinal and final rounds of judging, originally planned for May 2020 and tentatively rescheduled for May 2021, will take place via livestreamed public performances by the contestants, assuming local coronavirus-related public health restrictions allow.          

The audiophile-oriented label releases every new album in multiple formats — physical CD, 96 kHz , 24-bit, studio-quality FLAC download, and 320 Kbps MP3 download — and on major streaming services.          

An independent nonprofit enterprise, Cedille Records is the label of Cedille Chicago, NFP. Sales of physical CDs and digital downloads and streams cover only a small percentage of the label’s costs. Tax-deductible donations from individual music-lovers and grants from charitable organizations account for most of its revenue.          

Cedille’s headquarters are at 1205 W. Balmoral Ave., Chicago, IL 60640; call (773) 989-2515; email: info@cedillerecords.org. Website: cedillerecords.org.          

Cedille Records is distributed in the Western Hemisphere by Naxos of America and its distribution partners, by Naxos Music UK, and by other independent distributors in the Naxos network in classical music markets around the world.